Electric igniter for explosive-engines.



No. 663,388. Patented Dec. 4, I900.

M. 8. NAPIER.

ELECTRIC IGNITER FOR EXPLOSIVE ENGINES.

(Application filed Jan. 8, 1900.) (No Model.) 2 Shuts-Sheet 1.

' Ezra/raw r: Noam: PEYERS co, PHOYQ-LXTHQ, WASHINGTON. o. c.

Patented Dec. 4,1900.

M. S. NAPIER.

ELECTRIC IGNITER FDR EXPLOSIVE ENGINES.

(Application filed Jan. 8, 1900.)

2 SheetsSheef 2.

(No Model.)

MONTAGUE STANDLEY NAPIER, OF LONDON ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO SELWYN FRANCIS EDGE, OF SAME PLACE.

ELECTRIC IGNITER FOR EXPLOSlVE-ENGINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 663,388, dated December 4, 1900.

Application filed January 8, 1900. Serial No. 766. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MoN'rAeUE STANDLEY NAPIER, engineer, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Vine street, York road, London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements Relatingto the Means for Adjusting the Oommutator- Brushes of Electrically-Fired GasEngines, of which the following is a specification.

IO In certain constructions of gas-engines, in which the charges are fired electrically, it is usual to regulate the speed of the engine by shifting the contact device so that the electrical sparking for igniting the combustible charges takes place earlier or later in the stroke of the piston in accordance with the speed at which the engine is running.

It is usual with motor-driven vehicles to employ a clutch for throwing the drivinggear into and out of operative connection with the road-wheels of the vehicle, this operation being performed by a pedal generally termed a clutch-pedal.

It is the object of my invention to provide means that will operate in conjunction with the clutch-pedal, whereby the operation of the said pedal in order to throw the drivinggear out of action will not disturb the position into which the handle for actuating the 0 aforesaid contact device has been previously adjusted by the driver to regulate the speed of the engine. Therefore when the said pedal is released to permit the driving-gear to again come into action the contact device will resume its original position without requiring a fresh adjustment of said handle to cause the vehicle to resume the speed at which it was running prior to the actuation of the pedal.

I will describe my invention more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 a' front elevation, of the means employed for my purpose. Fig. 3 is a general diagrammatic view showing the improvements applied to a motor-driven road-vehicle. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the contact device.

A is the clutch-pedal for throwing the driving-gear into and out of action with the roadwheels of the vehicle. The said pedal is pivoted at a to any convenient part of the framing of the vehicle and is provided with an extension or tail a, which is connected by a pin a with a pair of rods B B. These rods at their upper ends are pivotally connected by a transverse pin 1) to a tube 0, which is capable of sliding longitudinally. The upper end of this sliding tube is slotted at c to receive the prolonged end d of the handle D, the said end lying immediately beneath the said transverse pin 1). The handle D is pivoted at d and is provided with a pawl (1 which is adapted to engage with a series of teeth or serrations formed in a segmental piece d so that the said handle can be maintained in any of the angular positions to which it may be set by the driver, as is well understood. The lower end of the aforesaid tube 0 isconnected to the contact device by appropriate mechanismsuch as lever O, shaft 0 and lever O which comprises a movable plate E (see Fig. 4) of insulated material, a trembler c, an adjustable contactscrew 6, and a rotary notched disk or cam 6 As the cam rotates it permits the trembler e to make contact with the adjustable screw 6 each time the notch in the cam arrives opposite to the head on the free end of the said trembler, thereby permitting an electric cur- 8o rent from a battery F to pass through the primary G of an induction-coil (see Fig. 3) and to induce a high-tension current in the secondary G of the induction-coil, so producing sparking at the sparking-terminal G located in the explosion-chamber of the engine. The aforesaid movable plate E is provided with curved slots 6 a which are concentric with the axis of the cam c and permit the said plate E to be oscillated when the parts 0 O C O are actuated, thereby shifting the head at the free end of the tumblere relatively to the cam e to adjust the position of the plate E to cause the sparking to take place earlier or later in the stroke of the piston. The rods B B are provided at their lower ends with longitudinal slots 19, through which passes the aforesaid pin a employed for connecting said rods to the pedal A.

C is a spiral spring arranged within the I00 upper part of the aforesaid tube 0 with the upper end of said spring abutting against the end (1 of the handle D.

When the aforesaid handle D is shifted in the direction .of the arrow in Fig. 1, so as to assume the position represented by the dotted lines in that figure, the end 01 will press upon the spring 0 and through it will cause the tube 0 to be depressed, the aforesaid spring 0 possessing sufficient resistance to enable the force necessary to depress the tube to be transmitted through said spring without unduly compressing the latter. By this means the contact device is set into the requisite position for regulating the speed at which the engine is required to run. This movement is permitted to take place without shifting the pedalA, because the slots 1) in therods I? permit the latter to slide downwardly without meeting impediment from the pin a If, now, while the handle D is in its dotted position the pedal A is depressed to disconnect the driving-gear from the vehicle, the pin a will come against the upper end of the said slots 1), and will thereby lift the said rods B and through them will elevate the tube 0 and so throw the cont-act device out of action. This upward movement of the tube'C takes place, however, without shifting the handle D by reason of the slot 0 and by reason of the aforesaid spring O being com pressed. On releasing the pedal A the spring 0 reacts and re turns the tube 0 to the position which it previously occupied prior to the operation of the pedal A, and consequently the contact device is returned to the position in which it was previously set by the handle D. On the other hand, if the handle D be shifted in the reverse directionthat is to say, from the position in which it is represented in dotted lines in Fig 1 into the position represented by the full lines the end (I of the said handle engages with the transverse pin 2), and thereby lifts the tube 0 without afiecting the position of the pedal A, the slotted ends of the rods B permitting this independent movement to take place.

i On reference to Fig. 3 it will be seen that the working cylinder H is provided with two valves 7L h, the former of which is the inletvalve and the latter the exhaust-valve. This last-mentioned valve is opened at the proper times by the action of a cam h mounted on a rotary shaft I that also carries the aforesaid movable plate E of the contact device. shaft is driven from the crank-shaft J through the toothed gearing j j. The said crank-shaft is also provided with a toothed wheel K, which can be thrown into and out of operative connection with the crank-shaft by the movement of the clutch 7c and the aforesaid clutch-pedal A. The aforesaid toothed wheel K normally runs loosely on the crank-shaft J, while the clutch 7c is connected therewith by a groove and feather, so that it continually revolves with the shaft, but is free to slide thereon by the action of the arm 7c, pivoted at and connected to the clutch-pedal by the links 10 It will therefore be seen that when the clutch-pedal A is actuated in the direction of the arrow the clutch 70 will be brought out of engagement with thetoothed wheel K and the vehicle will therefore be thrown out of gear with -the motor. When the said clutch-pedal is released again, the clutch rengages with the toothed 'wheel K and the vehicle is started running at the same speed at which it was running prior to the disengagement as above explained.

L is a toothed wheel mounted on the axle of the driving-wheels M M of the vehicle for transmitting the motion of the crank-shaft to these wheels.

What I claim is- 1. In an electrically-fired gas-engine for use with motor-vehicles, the combination with the clutch-pedal and with the handle for adj usting the position of the contact device, of means whereby the said contact device is shifted by the said pedal, without disturbing the position of the aforesaid adj listing-handle for the purpose specified.

2. In an electrically-fired gas-engine for use with motor-vehicles, the combination with the clutch-pedal and with the handle for adjusting the position of the contact device, of a slotted tube forming part of lever mechanism for connecting said handle to the contact device, of a spiral spring located within the said tube and bearing against the said handle, of slotted rods connecting the said tube to the said pedal, and of a pin which extends transversely across the upper end of the tube for the aforesaid handle to engage with, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. In an electrically-fired gas-engine for use with motor-vehicles, the combination with the clutch-pedal and with the handle for adjusting the position of the contact device, of means for lockin g the said handle in any desired position that it may be set by the operator, of a tail on the said handle, of a sliding tube slotted for the reception of the aforesaid tail, of lever mechanism for connecting the said tube to the said contact device, of rods connected to the upper end of the said tube by a transverse pin with which the aforesaid tail of the handle can engage, of a pin carried by the said clutch-pedal and extending through longitudinal slots in the said rod, and of a spiral spring located within the said tube and supporting the tail of the aforesaid handle, all substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 22d day of December, 1899.

MON'IAGUE STANDLEY NAPIER.

Witnesses:

A. E. WHITE, WALTER E. Rooms. 

